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Newlyweds forced to wait almost four hours trying to check into hotel for honeymoon before driving 3 hours home
A NEWLYWED couple who drove three hours to their honeymoon hotel were forced to wait four hours to check-in - before giving up and driving all the way back home again.
Charlotte and Connor Kirkbride hoped to enjoy a mini-break at Scarborough Grand Hotel but were faced with monster queues after their road trip.
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But the couple were forced to abandon their romantic getaway after queueing in the lobby of the Scarborough Grand Hotel for three and a half hours - travelling 180 miles in one day.
The couple's claims come less than a week after a dad was forced to wait 12 hours at the same hotel, before giving up and driving more than 130 miles home.
Connor, 24, had driven the pair from their home in Sunderland, to the hotel in Yorkshire – 90 miles away.
He and new wife Charlotte, 26, had planned to go to Spain for their honeymoon but coronavirus restrictions meant that the trip was cancelled.
Speaking to The Sun Connor said: “The whole thing was like a fever dream if I’m totally honest.
“We got married the week before, and with the restrictions we couldn't do anything else.
“We stayed there last year and had no problems, the room wasn’t particularly grand but it did the job and we had a nice weekend.
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“The only reason that we wanted to go back was because it's right on the sea front and relatively cheap.
“For one night they wanted £155 which we thought was a bit steep, but we decided to book it and go to Whitby for the day before driving to Scarborough.
“We got to the hotel around 4.30pm and immediately we were greeted by this huge queue which went all the way around the entire hall.
“When we joined we didn't think that it would be too bad, but there was absolutely no social distancing in place.
“I have ileocecal Crohn's disease, I’ve had my vaccines since this happened but it made me rather anxious.
“No one was wearing masks, no one was social distancing and no staff said anything. It was probably because they’d been there for hours but still.
“There were children running around because they were bored, and they were crying. It was awful.
“It took us around three hours to get to the front of the queue, and by that point we had seen other people who had checked in come down and demand a refund and give their keys back.”
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Connor, who works in customer services for Barclays bank, was offered a bottle of Blossom Hill wine and a discount on their room when they got to speak to a member of staff.
But the couple claim that the receptionist was very “nonchalant” about the treatment of customers, so they decided to take a refund and return home.
Connor added: “By the time we got to the front desk there was also a massive queue at the manager's office, but he just didn't seem to want to know.
“We saw him smirk about the whole situation. One woman came from the baar to complain that a member of staff had told her to ‘go f*** herself’ and the manager just laughed and said his staff wouldn’t do that.
“At that point all a lot of people who were queuing wanted was to be guaranteed that they weren’t going to be charged for the room and they just left.
“I told the receptionist, who kept us waiting for about five minutes while he typed despite noticing us, that we weren’t going to pay £155 for the experience we had.
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“It's really unusual for me to cause a fuss. I work in customer service and I know how stressful it can be for people but their attitude was really bad and I didn't appreciate it, especially on our honeymoon.
“He eventually called us forwards and apologised for the wait, but it was with a very nonchalant attitude. He offered us a bottle of complimentary wine, which was about £5.
“I said that we wanted a refund because the whole thing was a nightmare. We just ended up driving the three hours home.
“We haven't been able to do anything else for our honeymoon, because Charlotte has had some medical issues.
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“We’re hoping to be able to go to Disneyland Paris in August to celebrate properly but you will never know with the restrictions."
The Sun has contacted Britannia Hotels for a comment.
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